Nov. 16, 2010

Box Score | Photo Gallery

RUSTON - Louisiana Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon looked at the box score and smiled following her team's 71-55 win over Western Kentucky Tuesday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

"I road our horse," Weatherspoon quipped, referring to the 40 minutes that senior forward Adrienne Johnson played in the game.

"We needed her for all 40 (minutes). She just means so much to our team on the floor, and I saw something tonight in her I've been waiting to see; a competitiveness, a fire. She wasn't going to allow us to lose tonight."

Johnson scored 26 points and grabbed four rebounds against a Western Kentucky team that shuffled five players 6-foot-1 or taller in through the game in an effort to wear her and Louisiana Tech down.

However, each time the Lady Toppers whittled what was as much as a 21-point second half lead down to 10 to 12 points, Johnson had an answer.

"She's special," Weatherspoon said. "I like our team overall, but she is a special player and people will continue to see that as the year progresses."

Tech (2-0) jumped out to an early lead against Western Kentucky as Whitney Jones, Tarkeisha Wysinger-Mackey and Johnson drove time after time to score at the bucket.

"We knew what Louisiana Tech wanted to do coming in here," said WKU coach Mary Taylor Cowles. "We knew they wanted to put the ball on the floor and drive the gaps. We simply didn't do a good job of stopping them early."

With Tech leading 16-3 on a pair of Jones free throws with 13:53 to play, Western Kentucky switched from their man-to-man defense to a full-court zone press. The move worked as LA Tech struggled to handle the pressure, something Weatherspoon said she would address in the coming days in practice.

"We just didn't do a good job of attacking it," Weatherspoon said. "We weren't strong with the basketball. We didn't break the press and continue to attack the rim. I take responsibility for how we handled it and we will fix it."

Despite the struggles, an 8-0 run by Tech over the final three minutes of the half, including five points by Johnson, sent the Lady Techsters into the halftime locker room leading 33-17.

Junior guard Jasmine Bendolph then hit a three-pointer on the opening possession of the second half as Tech quickly pushed the lead to 21 at 40-19 with 17:07 to play.

However, WKU wouldn't go quietly as the Lady Toppers continued to pressure and continued to claw and scratch and fight over the final half. A LaTeira Owens jumper with 12:15 to play cut the Tech lead to 42-28 before Johnson answered with a conventional three-point play.

After Tech pushed the lead back out to 21 at 54-33 on another three-point play by Johnson with 8:33 to play in the game, WKU made one last run, cutting the Lady Techsters advantage down to 10 at 57-47 on a Janae Howard three-pointer with 5:06 to play.

Johnson picked up her fourth personal foul with 6:44 to play while Wysinger-Mackey picked up her fourth less than one minute later. However, the two seniors were able to stay in the game without picking up their fifth as Weatherspoon's team continued to answer.

Tech used good free throw shooting and a couple of big three-pointers by senior guard Brietta Thomas down the stretch to seal the win.

In addition to Johnson's big night, Jones scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Wysinger-Mackey and Bendolph each added 10 points.

Tech held WKU's Arnika Brown, a first team all-Sun Belt Conference selection, to zero points in just 13 minutes of action as Brown was constantly frustrated all night long. Hope Brown led the Toppers with 13 points although the senior guard was pressured into nine turnovers.

The Lady Techsters shot 43 percent (24-56) from the field, 40 percent (4-of-10) from the three-point line and 76 percent (19-25) from the free throw line.

WKU hit 42 percent (22-52) from the field, 50 percent (5-10) from the three-point line and 50 percent (6-12) from the free throw line. The Lady Toppers outrebounded Tech 40-31.

Tech returns to action Friday night when it travels to Little Rock to face UALR at 7 p.m.